Donn Byrne (born Brian Oswald Patrick Donn-Byrne; 20 November 1889 – 18 June 1928) was an Irish writer.
He was born in New York City in the United States where, he claimed, his Irish parents were on a business trip at the time, and soon after returned with them to Ireland.
It is related that he "turned down his PhD" when he learned that he would have to wear evening clothes to his early morning examinations, which he apparently felt that no true Irish gentleman would ever do.
Despite both his wife Dorothea's success as a playwright, and his own increasing popularity as an author, Byrne's financial straits forced his family to sell their house in Riverside, Connecticut, and return to Ireland.
They later purchased Coolmain Castle, near Bandon in County Cork, where Byrne lived until his death in a car accident due to defective steering,[1] in June 1928.
Messer Marco Polo tells the story of the Italian adventurer as told by an Irishman, and The Wind Bloweth is a romantic novel of the sea.
[3] His later novels invited comparison with Irish novelist George Moore, especially in their romance and historical themes.
It was with Hangman's House, though, that he began to identify himself with the traditional Irish storytellers, noting in his preface ("A Foreword to Foreigner's") that: "I have written a book of Ireland for Irishmen.